A bold statement, sure. But a man who spent 5 years studying 177 self-made millionaires found they had a few habits in common, like this one:

They get up with the chickens.

In fact, when researching the topic for his now-famous book “Change Your Habits, Change Your Life,” Thomas C. Corley found that nearly half of these peeps woke up at least three hours before their workday was officially set to begin.

For most people, that translates to sometime between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (I know. I hated it, too, at first, but hear me out.)

Laura Vanderkam agrees. In her book “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast,” she talks about the steps that highly successful people take to jump-start their day productively and accomplish more great things in less time.

Across the board, one of the most important tools in the self-made toolbox is this: an early-morning routine from which they rarely deviate, whether that means an hour of meditation, some time on the treadmill, or working on supercharging their career.

These early birds are onto something

Successful people have big passions and even bigger plans and they know that time is their most precious commodity. They’ve figured out that getting sh*t done isn’t going to happen when they’re getting yanked in a dozen directions, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, answering emails, dealing with everyone else’s crap, or putting out fires once they get to the office.

As Corley writes, “these disruptions have a psychological effect on us.” Indeed, they have a way of making us feel like we have zero control over our own life. Why?

Answer this: when it comes to something that you wanted to do, something just for you, have you ever gotten busy and said, “no worries; I’ll do it later” (gym, working on your website, writing up a business plan, practicing that new instrument you’ve been wanting to learn) only to hit the pillow again and again with, “damn, o.k., I’ll get to it tomorrow, for sure … ” ?

Yeah. Me, too.

How many times have you been frustrated because the three or four things you absolutely needed to get done that day somehow ended up getting replaced by unanticipated time-sucks? And then beat yourself up about it? Felt like a failure?

Again, guilty as charged.

Well, somewhere along the line, ultra-successful people learned that if they want to smoke their exams, get six-pack abs, or launch that business (whose url they bought five years ago), they’d better fine-tune their modus operandi, starting with a sweet, simple morning routine.

And now, while the rest of the world is still snoring away, they are getting more things accomplished before the sun comes up than many people get done all week. Their mornings become a series of productivity bursts instead of a sea of lost opportunities. They are actively developing what Corley calls the “rich habits” that transform mere mortals into seven-figure gods and goddesses.

But do you know what? Even if making lots of money is the last thing on your mind, achieving “success” – as you define it – is there for the taking. It is within your grasp and all starts with one simple change: own your morning.

We’ll teach you how.

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Author: Dr. Shari Youngblood, DCN, CNS is a Doctor of Clinical Nutrition and Board-Certified Nutrition specialist who started getting up at 4:00 a.m. more than five years ago and has never been more productive.

Photo Credit: Damir Spanic on Unsplash